The three specters in the abandoned factory finally disappeared under the camera's lens.

It took one hour and twenty minutes.

After throwing away the camera, Yu Xing took a deep breath: "Finally don't have to hold onto this thing anymore. I really don't know how the protagonists in some foreign horror games can run around with a camera from beginning to end."

Zhao Yijiu still held onto the camera: "Are you sure you don't need it anymore?"

"Then what? Since the ghosts are gone, no one can come and punish me even if I don't change the batteries." Yu Xing dusted off his hands and walked back from behind the desk, and when he looked up, he saw a dark figure standing outside the door.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

The figure appeared at some point, quietly half-hidden behind the door, with a pair of eyes peering into the office. If someone with a weaker mentality saw this, they would be scared on the spot.

"Assistant Hao, you're here."

Zhao Yijiu quickly put the small knife back into his pocket and casually followed Yu Xing's gaze.

Upon hearing someone calling out his identity, the person outside the door moved and a beam of flashlight suddenly lit up, shining on the person's fleshy face, casting a strange shadow.

Normally, for the "applicants," who are the people who unknowingly participate in the test, it is not a joke to experience a great emotional roller coaster after finally completing the test and encountering another specter.

However, the two people in the room remained calm and silent, watching Assistant Hao's performance.

"...Congratulations." A few seconds later, realizing that he couldn't achieve the effect he wanted, Assistant Hao awkwardly moved the flashlight away and walked out from behind the door, pretending as if nothing had happened. "You both have passed the recruitment process of our company."

"Thank you, I'm so tired--"

"Mhm."

Assistant Hao had seen many newcomers who angrily questioned him after hearing these words, as well as those who burst into tears with joy, but he had never seen anyone like these two -- they seemed to have expected it.

Look, that pale-skinned young man is still yawning!

Rubbing his eyes, Assistant Hao couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled. He thought that maybe he hadn't been a test administrator for long enough, so he lacked experience. Look, it hadn't even been an hour and a half, and these two were already acting like big shots!

Thinking of this, he put on a standard smile and waved for the two to come closer.

Zhao Yijiu casually placed the camera on a cabinet and approached Yu Xing.

Assistant Hao observed their expressions. Although he was a specter, his lively appearance was somewhat out of place: "Actually, your memories should have already been restored. Think carefully, in reality, our deduction company doesn't actually exist."

"Yeah," Zhao Yijiu said in a flat tone.

"Understood, please continue." Yu Xing also didn't pay much attention.

Previously, in his mind, there was indeed information about this deduction company, including online reviews, famous anchors, regular programs, and even the company building used for the previous interview. It could be said that from the core to the society, everything was flawless.

But after Assistant Hao's words fell, when Yu Xing tried to recall these things, he realized that he had only been implanted with these memories a few hours ago. There was no such thing as his friend recommending him to go for an interview three days ago.

He hadn't searched for information online or evaluated the company's risks.

Of course, although his memories had inevitably been distorted, he had long been aware of this, so he wasn't affected at the moment. He believed that Zhao Yijiu, who could obtain sacrificial knives in advance, was the same.

"Now that our company is fake, you must be curious about what power distorted your memories and what our purpose is." Assistant Hao didn't care about the clearly "not curious at all" expressions on their faces. It was his task to make things clear.

"Here, I want to solemnly announce again--"

"Welcome to gaining the qualification to enter the Absurd Deduction Game!"

As soon as his voice fell, Yu Xing felt a chill enveloping him from all sides.

The cold aura seeped into his body like maggots attached to bones, then gathered in his brain as if it wanted to devour his soul - if humans really had souls, that is.

Vaguely, Yu Xing heard voices in his mind.

It was noisy, not just one person, but many people, buzzing like a hundred monks chanting scriptures by his ears.

Gradually, crying and screaming could be heard in the voices, as well as crashing sounds, running sounds, cries for help, and the familiar roar of anger.

The content of that roar... Yu Xing frowned and bit his tongue hard, tasting the blood in his mouth, forcibly interrupting the voices in his mind.

He didn't want to listen.

He didn't want to hear what came next.

The pain brought him back to full consciousness, and the voices receded like a tide. Finally, he only heard a mechanized voice--

"Evaluating deduction test results."

"Evaluation complete. Candidate Yu Xing meets the criteria and is granted qualification."

"Generating personality mask template."

It's the system of the deduction game! Yu Xing's eyes lit up with excitement. He had done everything for this.

Nobody knew how long he had been waiting for this moment.

But before he could see the result, his pupils contracted, and he immediately covered his mouth with his right hand, swallowing the sudden surge of rust smell rising from his throat. A thin layer of cold sweat appeared on his body.

Oh no, this is bad...

Yu Xing took a barely noticeable breath and thought to himself: The cold aura earlier seemed to trigger discomfort in my body. If I don't rest soon, the consequences might be unpredictable.

There are other people here, and he didn't want to reveal too much.

In the next moment, the mechanized voice sounded again: "Personality mask template generated."

A translucent white template suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, connected to his consciousness. He didn't need to look carefully, as the contents on it were fully scanned by him.

【Personality Mask •? (Unnamed)】

【Holder: Yu Xing】

【Basic Information: Male, 185cm tall, 65kg, age *#€*# (error occurred)】

【Identity: To be activated】

【Mask Weight: Not evaluated】

【Holder Description: Let me see... You're not right. How did you get in?】

【Personality Sacrifice: ??? (Due to incomplete first deduction, original sacrifice ability description is temporarily hidden, ability is not affected, please discover it yourself)】

【Personality Deviation: ???】

【Deduction Shop: Not open】

【Wishlist: Empty】

【Please choose to start the personality mask evaluation game within three days. If the game is not started after 72 hours, it will be forcibly entered in the last minute. Succeeding will activate the personality mask, failure will result in disqualification, and death is the ideal outcome】

This is really... Yu Xing looked at the data that was equivalent to a player template and searched for adjectives in his mind.

Ah, got it, "eerily permeated"!

The part where an error occurred and the holder description, they both looked suspicious. Yu Xing could only raise an eyebrow: fortunately, no one else can see it.

In addition to this string of data, his mind automatically added a lot of new information.

To summarize:

He has been selected by a game called "Absurd Deduction" and has become a potential player.

In this real, eerie, and absurd game, players are called deductionists and need to find answers and the truth in each game event, and strive to survive.

Deductionists who survive will receive varying amounts of deduction points based on their game scores. They can exchange for anything they want in the shop inside the personality mask, including wealth, power, health, beauty, and all other desires that originate from the depths of their hearts.

The game world is attached to reality yet independent from it. All the order and science of the real world will be distorted and ineffective in this fragmented game world, forming new rules of disorder. Deductionists refer to this game world as the "Absurd."

Yu Xing glanced at Zhao Yijiu beside him and found that the other person seemed to be digesting the information and steadying his trembling body.

He began to feel cold.

His body was a curse to him, forcing him to compromise and weaken himself from time to time. Otherwise, the more high-profile he was, the more likely he would put himself in danger.

Tsk, so annoying.

Yu Xing maintained a calm expression on his face and refocused his attention on the information in his mind.

To become an official deductionist, there are two steps.

He just completed the first step, which was this simple deduction test. It was a test of a person's intelligence, logic, reaction speed, and courage, among other basic qualities required by the "Absurd." Those who didn't pass, like Zhang Shuya, were examples.

In terms of gamification, he had already obtained a game invitation code.

But he still needed to perform some operations to activate the invitation code and enter the game.

This activation process is the evaluation game mentioned in the "Personality Mask."

The evaluation game is a solo game.

For Yu Xing, this was good news, as a solo game meant he could be a bit more casual.

"Do you understand everything? Within three days, you will participate in another game. If you don't participate..." Assistant Hao smiled as he watched, until both newcomers understood, then he approached with a sinister expression, "You will die!"

Zhao Yijiu coldly looked at him, "If you weren't so childish, you would still be that amiable fat guy."

Assistant Hao belonged to the category of a guide for newcomers. Although he was a specter, he wouldn't harm them, which Zhao Yijiu knew very well.

So this boring little scare was unnecessary. If it were Yu Xing... Yu Xing didn't want to pretend anymore, he was a bit uncomfortable with it.

The amiable fat guy ghost immediately deflated. These newcomers are no fun!

He sighed, "Alright, alright, as long as you understand the rules. Since you're not official deductionists, there are no healing benefits for the injuries you sustained during this test."

"By the way, there are three ways to survive this test. First, follow my initial hint and honestly change the batteries for eight hours. Second, poke out your own eyes, then the ghosts won't harm you no matter if the camera has batteries or not. The third, which is the most difficult, is your way to clear the test, kill the specters."

"When you become official deductionists, this performance will be rewarded."

"I'll stop here, you can go back now."

After speaking, Assistant Hao enthusiastically came and lacklusterly left, directly turning into an indistinct blood mist and disappearing into the air.